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At least five explosions linked to wood dust have rocked B.C. wood manufacturing plants since 2009.

None of the earlier explosions resulted in injuries, unlike the two fatal incidents that killed four workers at Lakeland Mills in Prince George and Babine Forest Products mill in Burns Lake this year.

It is not known if Work-SafeBC investigated or issued any warnings over the smaller incidents.

Those incidents should have sent a warning signal to safety regulators, industry leaders and the unions who advocate for worker safety, acknowledged United Steelworkers local 1-424 president Frank Everitt on Friday.

Everitt was surprised to hear about the string of small explosions, saying he is now doubly convinced of the need to quickly determine the causes of the two latest and most deadly incidents.

"Given what's happened, we have to conclude we should have done more ... everybody in the industry," said Everitt.

He acknowledged there were more explosions "than anyone realized."

After the Lakeland explosion, the United Steelworkers head-quarters in Pittsburgh, Penn. ordered a list be compiled of all wood-dust explosions worldwide.

So far, no direct link has been made between explosions at the latest two sawmills and dust from the dry, pine beetle-killed timber milled at both sites.

But WorkSafeBC earlier this week ordered sawmills to investigate dust levels and other hazards, saying the review was urgently needed given the recent deaths.

A list of previous explosions compiled from news reports by The Vancouver Sun found:

. An explosion in January 2011 at Tolko's Soda Creek sawmill in Williams Lake was caused by dust in one of the mill's motor control centres. It created a fire in the walls that was hard to put out, said the Williams Lake fire department.

. An explosion in April of 2011 at Pinnacle Pellet in Arm-strong caused a fire that quickly spread into the basement and into the attic. The company also experienced an explosion at its Williams Lake plant in August 2009. That explosion was caused by a combination of air, dust and a spark, said the company.

Pellet plants use wood shavings and sawdust that are com-pressed into pellets, which are used to fire boilers that produce electricity and steam, or are burned in wood stoves for heat.

. An explosion caused extensive damage at Pacific Bioen-ergy's pellet plant in Prince George in December 2010, where dust was cited as a factor ignited by a spark. That incident followed back-to-back explosions that rocked the pellet plant in March 2008.

These incidents don't include a small explosion that took place at Burns Lake's Babine Forest Products (the mill that exploded in January) in February 2011 that was fed by unusually dry sawdust, according to a B.C. Safety Authority report.

There is also an earlier news report of an explosion linked to dust at Canfor's Chetwynd sawmill in 2005 where work on a shutdown burner created a cloud of dust that was ignited by cutting torches. At least one worker was injured and taken to hospital.

Once his memory was jogged, Everitt acknowledged there have also been explosions in the past at medium-density fibreboard plants, known for their dust problems, including at West Fraser's WestPine plant in Quesnel.

The pellet plants use wood waste instead of raw logs to produce their product, but they are working with material that comes from dry, beetle-killed logs used by sawmills.

The increased dust from dry, beetle-killed timber was cited as a production and safety concern by industry as far back as 2007.

Neil McManus, an industrial hygienist who has authored several safety books, said it doesn't matter that the explosions between 2009 and 2011 didn't all occur at sawmills, it's the dust factor in the explosions that's important.

McManus has no doubt about what caused the explosion at Burns Lake.

"I have absolute certainty this is a dust explosion," he said, following the second similar explosion in Prince George.

Observations by employees at Lakeland Mills who describe dust from beetle-killed timber as extremely fine and who note the wood contains more resin are telling, McManus said.

These revelations indicate the dust is a "very explosive powder," he said.

McManus said he believes industry and safety regulators have failed to address safety concerns in the design of mills in the beetle-timber area.

WorkSafeBC declined to comment Friday on the previous explosions, noting many of their senior managers are attending annual day-of-mourning ceremonies through-out the province.

WorkSafeBC spokeswoman Donna Freeman said the agency would also first have to check its records on the incidents before commenting. "We will be reviewing all of these incidents, and will speak to it Monday," she said.

The Sinclar Group was considering an upgrade to its dust control system at Lake-land Mills following the Burns Lake explosion, president Greg Stewart said. The upgrade was strictly a precautionary measure, said Stewart, noting no definitive link has been made between dust and the earlier explosion at Burns Lake.

Lakeland's existing ventilation system sucks dust from the air, but the company was examining a system that would vacuum dust at its source, he added.

Stewart could not provide any details or a cost estimate for the new system.

Nor would he comment on whether dust from dry, beetle-killed timber was finer than dust from timber cut before the beetle epidemic hit.

Stewart said he couldn't comment on the string of more minor explosions as he wasn't familiar with any investigations into them.

In Burns Lake, 225 kilometres west of Prince George, Lake Babine Nation chief Wilf Adam cautioned against coming to conclusions too early, even considering the new information on explosions occurring before Burns Lake and Prince George.

Said Adam, whose first nation has a stake in the Burns Lake mill: "A thorough job is more important than a rushed job."

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